Antoine Louis Romanet

This is an original engraving of a bust portrait depicting Antoine Court de Gébelin (1725-1784), a French Protestant theologian, mythologist, and grammarian. Created in 1776 by expert Antoine Louis Romanet, after collaborating with Mlle. Linot. The bottom is inscribed with: "A Paris chez Romanet rue de la Harpe vis a vis les Jacobins".

Antoine Court de Gibelin was born near Nîmes on 5 September 1728 and died in Paris on 12 May 1784 at the age of 59. He was the son of pastor and theology professor Antoine Court, founder of the Séminaire de Lausanne, a clandestine establishment where future French pastors were trained (Protestantism had been banned there since the revocation of the Edict of Nantes). A physiocrat thinker and freemason, he was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Académie des belles-lettres, sciences et arts de La Rochelle and the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Rouen.

Antoine-Louis Romanet (Paris, 7 January 1742 - Saint-Maurice, 1 April 1807) was a French draughtsman, engraver and miniature painter. He was the cousin of the wife of the engraver Jean-Georges Wille (1715-1808), who trained him in the art of engraving. He exhibited at the Salon de la Correspondance from 1779 to 1787.

Sources: Wikipedia; Archives de France.

Artist: Antoine-Louis Romanet (1742-1807)
Medium: Etching on laid paper.
Condition: Very good condition.
Dimensions: 35 x 26 cm. / 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in. (sheet). 27 x 19 cm. / 10 ½ x 7 ½ in. (plate).
Frame: 43 x 33 cm. / 17 x 13 in. New, classic style, acid-free matting and glass.
Origin: France.